Systems and methods for electronic postmarking of data including location data

ABSTRACT

Systems and mehods for electronic postmarking of location data are provided. Electronic postmarking of location data (S. 20 ) includes generating a hash value corresponding to merged data (S. 30 ). Electronic postmarking further includes generating an electronic postmark data structure (S. 40 ) comprising the hash value and a date/time stamp. The electronic postmarking data structure (S. 40 ) may further include a digital signature.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority from: U.S. ProvisionalApplication Serial No. 60/283,139, filed Apr. 12, 2001, by Charles R.Chamberlain and titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC POSTMARKINGINCLUDING LOCATION DATA, the disclosure of which is expresslyincorporated herein by reference; U.S. application Ser. No. 09/675,677,filed Sep. 29, 2000, by Leo J. Campbell et al. and titled SYSTEMS ANDMETHODS FOR AUTHENTICATING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE, the disclosure ofwhich is expressly incorporated herein by reference; and PCT ApplicationSerial No. PCT/US01/47720, filed Dec. 17, 2001, by Charles R.Chamberlain and titled SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC POSTMARKINGWITHOUT DIRECTLY UTILIZING AN ELECTRONIC POSTMARK SERVER, the disclosureof which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This invention, in general, relates to electronic postmarking ofdata. In particular, this invention relates to electronic postmarking oflocation data.

BACKGROUND

[0003] As described in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/675,677, filed Sep.29, 2000, by Leo J. Campbell et al. and titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAUTHENTICATING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE, the disclosure of which isexpressly incorporated herein by reference, an electronic postmark, orEPM, provides content and temporal integrity and identificationauthenticity for data, which is transferred over a network. Such EPMshave traditionally been used to authenticate the identity of the senderof a particular message or to authenticate the time/date at which themessage was created. Increasingly, however, not only the identity andtime/date of creation are important, but also the physical or geographiclocation of the sender of the message is significant.

[0004] Authenticated location or geographic information may be used formany purposes, including, for example, being able to establish with acertain degree of confidence the location at which a particular messageor data was created. But, as noted above, the present systems andmethods do not permit that. Accordingly, there exists a need forelectronic postmarking of location or geographic data.

SUMMARY

[0005] Systems and methods consistent with the present invention permitelectronic postmarking of location data.

[0006] In one embodiment consistent with the present invention, a methodfor performing electronic postmarking of data, including user data andlocation data is provided. The method includes receiving user data froma data acquisition/generation device. The method further includesreceiving location data from a location data acquisition/generationdevice. The method further involves merging the user data with thelocation data to generate merged data. The method further comprisesgenerating an electronic postmark data structure comprising a hash,value of the merged data and a time/date stamp.

[0007] Another embodiment consistent with the present invention is amethod for performing electronic postmarking of data, including userdata and location data. The method includes receiving user data from adata acquisition/generation device. The method further includesreceiving location data from a location data acquisition/generationdevice. The method further involves merging the user data with thelocation data to generate merged data. The method further comprisesgenerating an electronic postmark data structure comprising a hash valueof the merged data, a time/date stamp, and a digital signature.

[0008] Yet another embodiment consistent with the present invention is asystem for performing electronic post marking of data, including userdata and location data. The system includes means for receiving userdata from a data acquisition/generation device. The system furtherincludes means for receiving location data from a location dataacquisition/generation device. The system further involves means formerging the user data with the location data to generate merged data.The system further comprises means for generating an electronic postmarkdata structure comprising a hash value of the merged data and atime/date stamp.

[0009] It is to be understood that both the foregoing generaldescription and the following detailed description are exemplary andexplanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of theinvention and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. In the drawings:

[0011]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system environment consistent with thepresent invention;

[0012]FIG. 2A shows an exemplary standalone electronic postmarking (EPM)device consistent with the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2B shows an exemplary embedded EPM device consistent with thepresent invention;

[0014]FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of an EPM deviceconsistent with the invention; and

[0015]FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method for performingelectronic postmarking of data, including user data and location data.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0016] Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodimentsconsistent with the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

[0017] Systems and methods consistent with the present invention performelectronic postmarking of data, including location data. Electronicpostmarking of location data enables one to authenticate the locationdata corresponding to a user data. For example, using the location dataone may be able to determine the location where a particular image wascaptured, using for example, a digital camera. As used herein, the term“location data” includes, but is not limited to, data concerning thegeographic location, GPS coordinates, position, altitude, longitude,latitude, or the direction of a data acquisition/generation device, suchas a digital camera.

[0018]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system environment consistent with thepresent invention. A sender 102 (also referred to as a user), who has adata acquisition/generation device capable of acquiring or generatingdata, may send a message along with the acquired/generated data to anelectronic postmarking system (EPM system) 104. As used herein, the term“data acquisition/generation device” includes, but is not limited to, adigital camera, a digital video recorder, a personal digital assistant,a handheld computer, a laptop computer, or any other device capable ofacquiring, generating, and/or storing electronic data. EPM system 104,as discussed later, may generate an EPM using a regular EPM server, asdescribed in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/675,677, filed Sep. 29, 2000,by Leo J. Campbell et al. and titled SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORAUTHENTICATING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE. The EPM system may also generatean EPM using a MicroEPM device, as described in, PCT Application SerialNo. PCT/US01/47720, filed Dec. 17, 2001, by Charles R. Chamberlain andtitled SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ELECTRONIC POSTMARKING WITHOUT DIRECTLYUTILIZING AN ELECTRONIC POSTMARK SERVER, the disclosure of which isexpressly incorporated herein by reference. As used herein, the term“embedded electronic postmarking device” is used to refer to theMicroEPM device of the previously mentioned patent application.Accordingly, in one embodiment consistent with the present invention, anEPM device, such as a MicroEPM device, may be embedded in a dataacquisition/generation device.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1, sender 102 may send data, including locationdata, via a network 105, such as the Internet, to EPM system 104. TheEPM system may then send the data to receiver 106, via a network, suchas the Internet.

[0020]FIG. 2A shows an exemplary standalone electronic postmarking (EPM)device consistent with the present invention. A user 202 may operate adata acquisition/generation device 204 to generate data. As discussedabove, data acquisition/generation device 204 can be any electronicdevice that is capable of generating, acquiring, and/or storingelectronic data. Data acquisition/generation device 204 may transfer theacquired/generated user data to an external EPM device 206 through aninterface 207. Data acquisition/generation device 204 may furtherinclude a location data sensor, such as a GPS sensor. Using the locationdata sensor (not shown), data acquisition/generation device 204 maygenerate data corresponding to the position, altitude, longitude,latitude, or the direction of a data acquisition/generation device, suchas a digital camera.

[0021] In one embodiment, data acquisition/generation device may mergethe user data and the location data to create merged data, which maythen be transferred via an interface connecting dataacquisition/generation device 204 and EPM device 206.

[0022] The interface connecting data acquisition/generation device 204and EPM device 206 may be any interface that is capable of transferringinformation, including an electronic, optical or a combination thereof.In particular, the interface may be a network, such as the Internet, alocal area network (wired or wireless). The interface could also be anyof the interfaces used to connect electronic devices, for example, aserial or a parallel interface for connecting I/O devices to a computer,a Uniform Serial Bus, IEEE-1394, Bluetooth, or any other interface.

[0023] At the user's command, the merged data is sent from dataacquisition/generation device 204 to EPM device 206. In one embodimentEPM device 206 may generate an electronic postmarking structure for themerged data and store the electronic postmarking structure locally. Thestored electronic postmarking structure may then be transferred to EPMserver 208. Alternatively, EPM device 206 may continue storing locallythe electronic postmarking structures, which may be later transferred ina batch to EPM server 208.

[0024]FIG. 2B shows an exemplary embedded EPM device 215 consistent withthe present invention. According to this embodiment an EPM device 215may be embedded or physically incorporated into a dataacquisition/generation device 214. As above, data acquisition/generationdevice 214 can be any electronic device that is capable of generating,acquiring, and/or storing electronic data. User data and location datamay be transferred within the data acquisition/generation device toembedded EPM device 215 upon a user command or it may be transferredautomatically. Data acquisition/generation device 214 may connect to anEPM server 216 for the generation of a batch EPM of the storedelectronic postmarks.

[0025]FIG. 3 shows an exemplary block diagram of an EPM device 300consistent with the invention. The exemplary EPM device may include apostmark storage unit 306, a secure EPM interface 308, a postmarkgeneration unit 310, a device interface 312, a real-time clock 314, adate generator 316, and a location data generator 318. Using real timedata from real-time clock 314, user data and/or location data 304, aprivate key, and/or location data from location data generator 318, apostmark generation unit 310 creates an electronic postmark datastructure. Postmark generation unit may be a software module executingon a general-purpose microprocessor or an application specificintegrated circuit (“ASIC”). The generated electronic postmark datastructure may be stored in postmark storage unit 306. Postmark storageunit 306 may be RAM, a flash memory, a hard drive, or any otherappropriate type of electronic or optical storage.

[0026] A plurality of electronic postmark data structures may be storedin the postmark storage unit for transfer in a single batch later. Atthe user's command, either a single electronic postmark data structureor a plurality of electronic postmark data structures may be transferredto EPM server 302 via secure EPM interface 308. Data, including userdata and/or location data may arrive via device interface 312. A keyinterface (not shown) may accept a private key from an official source,such as the United States Postal Service (USPS), or any other trustedsource of private keys (as described in the aforementioned U.S.application Ser. No. 09/675,677, filed Sep. 29, 2000).

[0027] Location data generator 318 may comprise at least one of ageo-position sensor, an altitude sensor, and a directional sensor. Thegeo-position sensor may generate longitude and/or latitude information.The altitude sensor may acquire information concerning the altitude ofthe data acquisition/generation device at the time data, such as adigital picture was acquired. The directional sensor may, for example,provide information concerning the direction in which the dataacquisition/generation device, is pointing at the time user data, suchas a digital image from a digital camera, was generated.

[0028]FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an exemplary method for performingelectronic postmarking of data, including user data and location data.In stage S.10, user data, including, for example, user acquired and/oruser generated data, is received by an EPM device, such as the EPMdevice of FIG. 3. User data may either be acquired or generated locallyor it may be received via device interface 312 of FIG. 3.

[0029] In stage S.20, location data, including, for example,geo-position coordinates of the data acquisition/generation device, isreceived by the EPM device. Location data may be received via deviceinterface 312 of FIG. 3 or may be locally generated using location datagenerator 318 of FIG. 3.

[0030] In stage S.30, user data is merged with the location data tocreate merged data., A software module (which is not shown in FIG. 3)loaded in the memory (not shown) associated with the EPM device mayperform this function. Alternatively, merging of the data may also beperformed by the data acquisition/generation device.

[0031] In stage S.40, an electronic postmark data structure isgenerated. As part of this stage, several sub-stages may occur. In oneembodiment, the merged data obtained from the previous stage is hashedusing, for example, a one-way hash function. As part of this sub-stage,any known or later developed hash function may be used. In oneembodiment, a hash function, which produces a 64-bit key may be used.The hash may then be time/date stamped. Time may be obtained usingreal-time clock 314 of FIG. 3. Date may be obtained using date generator316 of FIG. 3. Alternatively a time/date stamp may be obtained from atrusted external source.

[0032] In one embodiment, the electronic postmark data structure may begenerated comprising the hash value of the merged data and the time/datestamp. Alternatively, the electronic postmark data structure may begenerated comprising the hash value of the merged data, the time/datestamp, and a digital signature comprising, for example, a private key. Adigital signature may be produced by first performing a secure hashalgorithm by using, for example, the Secure Hash Standard FIPS 180-1 onthe data to be signed, to produce a secure hash value. The secure hashvalue may then be processed using a digital signature algorithm (DSA)and a unique private key to produce two data values. These data valuesmay comprise the digital signature, which may then be appended to thehash value and the time/date stamp to form an electronic postmark datastructure.

[0033] In one embodiment after an electronic postmark data structure isgenerated, as discussed above, the generated electronic postmark datastructure may be stored in a log. Alternatively, a data entrycorresponding to the generated electronic postmark data structure may bestored in the log. The log may be located at EPM server 110 of FIG. 3.

[0034] Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practiceof the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specificationand examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope andspirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for performing electronic postmarking ofdata, including user data and location data, the method comprising:receiving user data from a data acquisition/generation device; receivinglocation data from a location data acquisition/generation device;merging the user data with the location data to generate merged data;and generating an electronic postmark data structure comprising themerged data and a time/date stamp.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thestep of generating the electronic postmark data structure comprisesgenerating a hash value from the merged data.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the stage of generating an electronic postmark data structureincludes generating a digital signature for inclusion in the electronicpostmark data structure.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein location dataincludes at least one of position, altitude, longitude, latitude, anddirection.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the stage of generating theelectronic postmark data structure includes forwarding the merged datato an electronic postmarking server.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe stage of generating the electronic postmark data structure includesforwarding the merged data to an embedded electronic postmarking device.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the embedded electronic postmarkingdevice is embedded in the data acquisition/generation device.
 8. The,method of claim 1, wherein the data acquisition/generation device is oneof a digital camera, a digital video recorder, a personal digitalassistant, a handheld computer, a laptop computer, and other devicecapable of generating and storing electronic data.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the location acquisition/generation device is at leastone of a GPS sensor, an altitude sensor, a position sensor, a latitudesensor, a longitude sensor, and a direction sensor.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: storing the generated electronic postmarkdata structure in a log file.
 11. A method for performing electronicpostmarking of data, including user data and location data, the methodcomprising: receiving user data from a data acquisition/generationdevice; receiving location data from a location dataacquisition/generation device; merging the user data with the locationdata to generate merged data; and generating an electronic postmark datastructure comprising the merged data, a time/date stamp, and a digitalsignature.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of generatingthe electronic postmark data structure comprises generating a hash valuefrom the merged data.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein location dataincludes at least one of position, altitude, longitude, latitude, anddirection.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the stage of generatingthe electronic postmark data structure includes forwarding the mergeddata to an electronic postmarking server.
 15. The method of claim 11,wherein the stage of generating the electronic postmark data structureincludes forwarding the merged data to an embedded electronicpostmarking device.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the embeddedelectronic postmarking device is embedded in the dataacquisition/generation device.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein thedata acquisition/generation device is one of a digital camera, a digitalvideo recorder, a personal digital assistant, a handheld computer, alaptop computer, and other device capable of generating and storingelectronic data.
 18. The method of claim 11, where in the locationacquisition/generation device is at least one of a GPS sensor, analtitude sensor, a position sensor, a latitude sensor, a longitudesensor, and a direction sensor.
 19. A system for performing electronicpostmarking of data, including user data and location data, the systemcomprising: means for receiving user data from a dataacquisition/generation device; means for receiving location data from alocation data acquisition/generation device; means for merging the userdata with the location data to generate merged data; and means forgenerating an electronic postmark data structure comprising the mergeddata and a time/date stamp.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein meansfor generating the electronic postmark data structure comprises meansfor generating a hash value from the merged data.
 21. The system ofclaim 19, wherein the means for generating an electronic postmark datastructure includes means for generating a digital signature forinclusion in the electronic postmark data structure.
 22. The system ofclaim 19, wherein location data includes at least one of position,altitude, longitude, latitude, and direction.
 23. The system of claim19, wherein the means for generating the electronic postmark datastructure includes means for forwarding the merged data to an electronicpostmarking server.
 24. The system of claim 19, wherein the means forgenerating the electronic postmark data structure includes means forforwarding the merged data to an embedded electronic postmarking device.25. The system of claim 24, wherein the embedded electronic postmarkingdevice is embedded in the data acquisition/generation device.
 26. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein the data acquisition/generation device isone of a digital camera, a digital video recorder, a personal digitalassistant, a handheld computer, a laptop computer, and other devicecapable of generating and storing electronic data.
 27. The system ofclaim 19, wherein the location acquisition/generation device is at leastone of a GPS sensor, an altitude sensor, a position sensor, a latitudesensor, a longitude sensor, and a direction sensor.